At Clear and Simple Media, our goal has always been “to help people read the Bible and help them understand what they read.” We have done that primarily by “writing books and telling stories in Simple English.” Our objective has been to put material into the hands of grassroots church planters that are “linguistically simple, theologically clear, and biblically faithful.” These materials put tools into the hands of the people who are on the front lines, discipling new believers to follow Jesus.

A few years ago, we were asked to help with the translation of the book Simple Truths for the New Believer into Gourmanchéma (one of seven spellings for this language) for churches among the Gourma people of Eastern Burkina Faso. We did this. Finished the translation. Printed the books. Traveled from Ouagadougou to Fada N’Gourma to deliver them. (That story HERE)

During the ride to and from Fade, my friend Nebié and I talked about how CSM could be more helpful to what he and his partners were doing in West Africa. His first request? Translate the A Simple Word website (www.asimpleword.org) into basic French for Burkina Faso and the other dozen or so Francophone countries in Africa. I took his suggestion seriously, and we began creating a strategy. That project has taken some time. Much (much) longer than we had expected.

There are several reasons for this. It took two years to find the right translation team and gather the funds required. Then, the world’s response to Covid caused further delays. Two successful military coups in 2022, January and September, brought further complications. (This past Wednesday, September 27, the military government announced that its security forces had foiled a new coup attempt).

With so much opposition and delay, we are writing with an urgent ASK.

Please – PRAY for the completion of the A Simple Word French translation project.

Pray for Mathias Apovo, the primary translator for the project. His team (at last word) is within a few short weeks of completion – but we have heard such news before.

Pray for Nebié Badiou, our primary partner in Burkina Faso. Ask God to bless his efforts as he helps us to recruit pastors and church leaders in West Africa who will be the “first responders” to the people who use the site and ask for help.

Pray for the technological upgrades that we are making to manage the connections that the website will generate and allow the team to effectively respond and disciple the inquirers.

Pray for the additional funds that may be needed as this project has stretched beyond our original timelines. We want to be both good stewards with what God has given us AND appropriately generous to the translators who have faced delays that were beyond their control.